Falling in Love
by Kiko-tan
Summary: An undergrown detective, a bitter thief, and fallen leaves. Obsession grows into something more. KaiShin fluff with a side of stuff. 3: Suspect Characters
1. Fall Arrives

Kikonote: Happy firstdayof Fall, Everybody! Kiko here with my first entry into this amazing fandom. I originally planned this as a drabble series, but I got a little carried away, so you get chapters instead. Send in some reviews if you like it! *bows*  
>Pairing: KaiShin (In that order? Maybe~ (yes))<br>Rating: Will go up later on for some slightly smutty lemonade. There will be a note at the top, of course.  
>Warnings: Violence, depression, yaoi (do I need this one?)<p>

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><p>Growing was hard. Sometimes, Shinichi missed being six - he could veer around people's legs and escape their notice altogether. After three years, though, <em>nine<em> year old Conan was more noticeable. Kogoro or Hattori would vouch for him, but as usual, he'd had to sneak away to come. Kogoro wasn't too interested in heists and Ran thought it was too dangerous for a nine year old.

No kidding, they were! Over time, the crowds had just grown larger. Shinichi was already worn out from getting past the crowd to sneak into the building - _damn his young body_. He rested his head against the cool glass of a window for a moment to ease his burning chest, and as he closed his eyes, a small smirk came to his face. The screaming, the lights... it was almost like a concert. No wonder that guy was so cocky.

Shinichi checked his watch. _9:45_. His eyes narrowed. He needed to hit the roof fast. Shinichi pushed himself to start up the stairs again, nearly losing his balance when he turned a sharp corner and his vision twisted with a tinge of temporary vertigo. He really needed to get Agasa to make him some mad-science water bottle. His body wasn't adjusted to his new height yet, and it was exhausting him.

The wind slammed against him, refreshing his body, yet drying his throat out all over again. Choking on his breath, Shinichi's feet pressed towards a figure in white, who had stopped upon hearing the door open.

"My, my. Up a little past our bedtime, aren't we, Tantei-kun?" He looked back with his trademark smirk as he held up a prized sapphire. As usual, nothing happened. He frowned and pocketed it for later, turning his full attention to the little boy who really did look like he needed a good night's sleep.

Shinichi clenched his fists at his sides. "Justice never sleeps."

KID chuckled. "Do you detectives have a handbook or do you come up with those lines all by yoursel- woah there!" KID sidestepped a small needle nearly imperceptible to the naked eye. His poker face never faltered, but he was a bit disappointed that he nearly _had_ been distracted enough not to dodge it. Luckily, his vision was impeccable, and the moonlight was a perfect companion. "The things they let kids play with these days! You're smarter than to play with such dangerous toys, aren't you?" KID scolded, wagging his finger. "All the other detectives bought that bathroom stunt."

Shinichi grinned, pacing around the white-clad thief. "Those people work for, or with the police. They're taught _never_ to take risks. But I know you better. That's why, one day..." Shinichi's smirk melted, replaced by an expression of fright. In keeping such a close eye on the thief, he hadn't noticed how quickly he'd gotten to the _edge_.

KID was only caught by surprise for the split second before he was able to react. He kicked his glider into gear and dove after the boy, his arm held out. He struggled to dive deeper, his muscles pulling and prickling with uncomfortable tension. It was made a little more difficult by the fact that his tantei _hadn't_ reached out for him yet. The detective didn't think he was too good to be saved by a thief, did he? The little-_ no_. Kaitou gritted his teeth. That wasn't it - those familiar pools of royal blue held a certain emptiness, a resigned quality. A doll-like quality. The wind thrashed him back without mercy. Losing the put-on smirk, the boy was only left with a blankness that snaked around Kaito's heart painfully. He was about to _scream_ at the little pessimist, but the boy's arm finally did extend and Kaito dove to reach it. Their fingertips nearly slipped past each other's, but Kaitou's firm grip pulled the boy up. He wrapped his right arm around the boy as tightly as he could and kept them in the air with his left. "Tantei-kun, we have to stop meeting like this." The boy thrashed a foot out to kick. Kaito ignored the super-powered slam to his side, his grip around the detective tightening all the more.

Shinichi had yet to fully regain himself. He wanted to find a way to trick KID into the police's clutch, and at the same time, he didn't care - about anything. He'd almost been totally OK with disappearing due to a simple mistake. An unusual sensation pricked at his eyes. He hadn't even thought about it; it was just his instinctual reaction. What was wrong with him?

Blinking away with discomforting wetness, Shinichi looked up at the thief. His neck, his chin... nothing made him particularly distinguishable. How was it that even at such close contact, he was no closer to finding out who KID was?

The two were not alone in the blindingly black sky. Shinichi's heart stopped. His world shook out of place, a transformation-like vertigo slamming his head when the sound of a bullet tore through the night. It was unmistakable; he knew how to tell what was a firework and what was a gun. He heard the thief mutter _shit_ under his breath, and tightened his arm around Shinichi so that he could barely breath. As KID dropped them off behind a building, Shinichi had a startling revelation that that bullet was aimed at _them_. He wondered if the police were taking on new tactics, but that couldn't have been it because they would never have done that with a child around. That meant something more sinister.

KID had gotten himself caught up with baddies before, sure; people had used KID heists to pull off crimes while the police were busy, sure; people had attacked others at KID heists just to try and take some of the attention, sure; but there was a certain _wrongness_ in that shock. He knew something was up. The average criminal didn't exactly carry a sniper rifle around, now did they? Shinichi looked up at the thief, wide-eyed, as his feet tried to understand that they had footing.

The thief kept his distance, looking down on the boy all the same. "Tantei-kun." KID didn't bother trying to muster up his usual mirth. He knew he couldn't say what he wanted. He _wanted_ to scold the kid for being reckless. Wanted to grill him. Maybe steal him away until he fessed up. He couldn't do any of that, and he hated it. "Take care of yourself." He turned the corner with his cape billowing behind him, and was gone before Shinichi could try anything else.

Shinichi took a deep breath - a real breath reaching into his lungs. Seeing the thief looking so serious was jarring to say the least... Even when it was completely called for. Shinichi shivered as a slight chill ran up him, the shock yet to fully wear off. How close was that to being a dead hit? Shinichi shook off the unwanted panic and began stalking off to the agency. That guy was so... _Take care of yourself._ What did that mean? Wasn't KID the one who needed to watch out? As usual, Shinichi walked home with his thoughts completely devoured by the enigma that was Kaitou KID.


	2. A Mutual Obsession

Kikonote: Pleasantly shocked at all the interest! I think this should run 25-30 chapters or so, so yes, I will definitely be continuing it (for a long while).

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><p>Kaito leaned forward onto his hand, his eyes slipping closed as he rested against the desk. It wasn't that he wasn't a morning person, he just got bored waiting for the shop to open. He'd opted out of continued schooling in favor of a part time job. He wanted his time to be flexible so that he could put his all into finding Pandora and taking down those murderers. Plus, who needed a degree to do magic? Especially someone as talented as him? And with a charisma that could win any interviewer over? No, he wasn't too worried about all that.<p>

His concerns were instead focused on a certain little Tantei-kun. Kaito tended to get attached to usual figures in his life anyway - he would even go out of his way for Hakuba, if it came to that - but Tantei-kun was special. Other than the fact that his brainpower ran circles around any of those other chumps, Tantei-kun was a literal impossibility. Kaito had no inclination to start detective work, but he had a healthy sense of curiosity in him, and Tantei-kun piqued his like no other. It was rather shallow when he thought about it, and at first he'd decided he didn't care...

But he _did_. That kid lingered in his mind like a scorned spirit. Over time, it had only gotten worse until it had hit the point where, to his horror, he'd started to _idolize_ the guy in a way. Kaito had a very detailed record of the life of Shinichi Kudo, as such that Kaito felt like he knew him. Sure, some psychoanalyst type might consider it escapism, since he always had to be on his guard around his own friends. He didn't need labels like that, though, to admit he was interested in someone he just _knew_ could have been his best friend in different circumstances. Sure, Shinichi may not have approved, but Kaito was a master at getting his way.

Friends though they weren't they had some similar interests. At least, they'd _had_. It bothered him that Tantei-kun wasn't really into his heists anymore. Heists were the only time Kaito got Tantei-kun to himself, even if for just a moment. Heists were the only time Kaito got to see Tantei-kun's maddening smirk and determined sharp eyes. It was like playing tag, only with thousands of screaming fans beneath them. But if Tantei-kun wasn't having fun anymore, neither was he.

Maybe Tantei-kun was lonely. There were definitely others who knew who he was, but from what Kaito had seen, the Mouris definitely didn't know, so Tantei-kun had to put on his kid act most of the time. Kaito liked it; whether or not Tantei-kun knew it, he had been _adorable_ as a kid. He assumed Tantei-kun wasn't happy about it, though, just as he'd always hated having to think up lies or excuses when what he really wanted to talk about was his real self. Not that he saw them too much anymore. Hakuba and Aoko had a long-distance relationship and were doing their own things, Akako visited the store to pester him sometimes. It just wasn't the same as having honest-to-goodness friends. Would it have been sad for him to say that his best friends were his mom, his doves, and a detective who wanted nothing more than to arrest him?

And that the last one didn't even know who he was? It got depressing to think about. Kaito had no shame about his sneaky creeper tendencies. It was the fact that the object of his obsession was nine. Was he such a predator if he was interested in a nine year old, when he knew Conan was really nineteen? He told himself he wasn't; he just wouldn't try to explain that to anyone else. Not like anyone listened to him anyway.

"Kaito!" someone growled behind them.

Kaito broke free of his thinkdreaming to turn around with an innocent face. "Yamamoto-san?" The man, and Kaito's boss, was red with anger.

"Get this thing off me!" Yamamoto bellowed. "And get rid of these _monsters_! They'll destroy the merchandise!"

Kaito smiled down at the little kitty whose claws were digging into his boss' leg. "Wow, Yamamoto-san, you really don't like cats. Awww... Come on little guy." Kaito gave the cat a scratch behind the ears. He walked across the store, whose floor was currently a field of grass. There were cats everywhere. They followed Kaito's tail as he moved to the door. When he switched it open, they walked right out.

"See? They aren't so much trouble." With another snap of the fingers, the convenience store floor was back.

Yamamoto grumbled, turned around, and went straight into the back.

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><p>Shinichi sat crouched in the corner of Ran's room. He was using it on the basis that he minimize his presence in the room so Ran could use it whenever she came home from school. Shinichi only kept the essentials - in particular, the things he didn't want Kogoro finding in their room. This included his journal. It wasn't where he shared his innermost thoughts and feelings (those were quite locked away). It was something that his mom would be <em>too proud<em> over if she ever saw.

Shinichi didn't take himself for a writer, but for some reason, he'd taken to writing his every encounter with Kaitou KID in story form. In the back was a profile on KID with what information Shinichi knew as well as speculation. It wasn't so strange, he supposed, to keep a record of a criminal one was trying to capture. The problem was that capture wasn't quite Shinichi's top priority. Above all, Shinichi was a mystery nut, and Kaitou KID was an unsolved mystery.

For the first time, Shinichi had wondered if some criminals deserved worse than others. Never had he thought it worth discerning, but things changed when he compared the theatric heist shows to Black Organization crimes, or even crimes he saw on a near-daily basis. Despite turning the idea over in his head countless times, Shinichi hadn't come to a conclusion. Instead, he'd just gotten frustrated at being affected by KID's charms, because there really was no evidence that Kaito was better than anyone else. There was nothing to prove he _didn't_ selfishly want to screw with authorities, or that he wasn't acting purely in self-interest, or that he would continue to always return what he stole.

KID was looking for something. Shinichi had heard him say things like _"This isn't it"_ or "_Wrong one again_." That meant that one day, KID wasn't going to give the jewel back. Worth didn't seem to be the motivating factor. Unfortunately, Shinichi had no other leads on this matter.

Except that shot. It kept replaying in his mind in the silence, nagging at his mind. He needed to figure out who they were - these were _snipers_ they were dealing with. But who? Why? Why KID? He sloppily scrawled notes about it in the back of the journal. The next step was to find out if it was a pattern.

Shinichi started when the alarm on his watch went off. He sighed, pushing his hair back, and shoved his journal back into the hidden compartment in Ran's bed - Kogoro didn't need to know about that little alteration he'd made. With Ran gone, Shinichi had taken on some of the brunt of Kogoro's inability to take care of himself. Kogoro tried to be nice about it compared to usual - he probably just felt bad about taking advantage of a nine-year-old, especially after that crack Eri had made.

When Shinichi got to the kitchen, Kogoro's feet were on the table. Kogoro lowered his newspaper and glanced at the boy. "So you are home."

Shinichi nodded and stuck his head in the fridge to get food ready. He'd been ignoring his own stomach for a good part of the afternoon. It was easy to get caught up in his messy little journal though, because after all, mysteries were his weakness.


	3. Suspect Characters

It was the second Wednesday of the month, which meant Kaito's day off and a his day to go people-watching. He was posing as an Australian tourist - tiny denim shorts, a lime green crop-top, sneakers, and an ashy brown ponytail waving behind him. Plus a camera around his neck for good measure. His destination: a certain conveniently located tree in Beika. Oh yeah, he was going full-on creeper, since it was for the sake of his favorite pint-sized detective boy. He wasn't going to do anything malicious, just spy on him, maybe tinker around with the boy's life a bit if it was necessary. Maybe he would even get to dress as Shinichi! He probably wouldn't; he just loved seeing that look on the kid's face when Shinichi popped up and Tantei-kun was the only one who knew who he was, and couldn't do anything about it.

Kaito caught his dark chuckle and forced it short. "Hm..." He rested a finger on his chin. "Which way now?" he said in slightly mangled English. He needed to make sure he had his voice straight before getting to the more populated areas of Beika, like beyond the side street he was currently walking down. Even if he was just going to spy, it always paid to be careful.

Being Kaito, he never took the easy way. When he spotted the tree he planned to perch in, he merely eyed it for a moment before passing it. A few turns later, he was climbing up the backside of a noodle restaurant. He really needed to stop dressing as women, because those clothes weren't enough to protect him (or his disguise, for that matter) from damage from things like uncut branches or an accidental slam against bricks. He got to the rooftop unscathed anyway, as could be expected, and shook out his ponytail. He edged over to make his hop to the next building when a certain familiar feeling washed over him - not the good type, but the ominous type. Frowning, he pressed his binoculars to his eyes.

Ah yes, there was the problem: _there was already someone in his tree_.

_Shit_. He needed a new way around. From where he was, whoever it was could easily spot him. Kaito threw a rope down to find a new course.

Ten minutes of sneaking around prying eyes later, Kaito focused his lenses in on the man in his spot. The man's face was mostly concealed by his hat. He was wearing a dark trench coat and holding something. Kaito inched slowly towards a new branch to get a better angle on the guy. After making sure he was steady, he zoomed in on a newspaper clipping. Well _that_ didn't seem suspicious or anything. He couldn't see what was on the clipping, but the fact that the suspicious man was looking straight at the street in front of the agency gave Kaito a pretty good idea of what he was doing. Little Conan Edogawa had made a name for himself all over again and he had been in the papers quite a bit for it. Conan always tried to play it modest, but the media _loved_ taking advantage of cute children to get readers. Plus, Conan furthered the media sensation that was Sleeping Kogoro.

That settled it: Kaito's new plan was to make sure this creep (no hypocrisy intended) didn't hurt his innocent little Tantei-kun.

"Conan-kun! Guess what?" Ayumi said, grinning.

"Hm?" Shinichi hummed in disinterest.

"The new volume of Yaiba comes out today!"

"Oh, really." Shinichi didn't even look at her. In all honesty, he just wanted to go home.

Genta and Mitsuhiko were excited, though. The boys and Ayumi cheered _Yaiba_ behind him.

Haibara walked behind. _I guess they didn't want to tell me, huh..._ Then again, unlike Shinichi, she'd never pretended to like children's series for the sake of looking childish. A ghost of a smile played at her lips. _Your own fault, Kudo-kun_. She understood how that would become a habit, though, when Ran was bending down, staring at you with her innocent big blue eyes, trying to make what she thought was a little kid happy. Haibara liked Ran, but she didn't pity Shinichi.

Genta patted Shinichi's shoulder, decided he knew why Shinichi wasn't excited. "I know you don't get a lot of allowance, so I'll let you borrow mine." This was accompanied by a thumb pointed at himself and a gentle tone of voice to accentuate how generous he was being.

_Oh yay_, Shinichi thought as he mustered a smile. "Okay. Thanks." He hadn't even read it last time. He used to read bits of it so he knew what they were talking about the next day, but he had long gotten sick of children's stuff. He'd just feign a bad memory. The kids thought he was out of it because of Ran going to college anyway. He didn't agree. It was half-true at most. He was just tired. Her being gone had only helped accelerate the inevitable exhaustion for his situation. Other than that, he wasn't too bitter about it. Was he supposed to try to hold her back instead? He wasn't that selfish.

Shinichi forced his mind to stop and heaved a sigh. He'd gotten caught up going on about Ran _again_. It wasn't as though he had to explain it to anyone - least of all himself.

The sigh didn't escape the notice of the Shounen Tantei. "Ah, and then, we should get ice cream!" Mitsuhiko suggested hastily. The others cheered in agreement, hoping for Conan to do the same.

When they were close to the agency, a familiar sensation washed over Shinichi. It wasn't the comfortable kind of familiarity: it was the dark, cold tendrils of an unknown watcher grasping his heart. Shinichi was the logical sort, but he knew better than to write off such feelings as paranoia. He had to get away from the kids... only, what if they would still be targets?

"Kudo-kun, you feel it too?" he heard whispered next to his ear.

He nodded, giving Haibara a pointed look.

Haibara sighed, crossing her arms in discomfort. "It don't seem like them, but I can't say for sure."

"What are you talking about?" Ayumi asked, butting in between the two - in jealousy, no doubt. Genta and Mitsuhiko were already engaged in another conversation.

Shinichi shook his head and waved his hand dismissively. "It's nothing, I was just mentioning a book I wanted to read. Maybe they'll have it at the bookstore!"

Ayumi bought it easily; Shinichi was known to be a book geek. "Oh. You can read real grown-up stuff, huh? I wish I could read as good as Conan-kun," she said shyly.

Shinichi felt like he had just made this worse for himself. "Ah, it's not that big a deal. I learned a lot from my family, so..." Making excuses was pointless, though, since the Shounen Tantei accepted him for a genius and didn't come up with any silly ideas like him actually being ten years older than them. It was funny how the kids came up with more logical conclusions than people his age, who actually had figured him out.

He reminded himself to stay sharp while they crossed the agency. The big question was whether or not they were going to be followed. He couldn't let whoever was there know that he'd noticed anything out of the ordinary, though, so he used Haibara and the Shounen Tantei as a cover while inwardly figuring out all the ways he could apprehend this guy depending on where he attacked from.

The moment the children came up, Kaito knew he had hit his mark. The man in black seemed to check the clipping out again before shoving it in his pocket. The children passed the agency and immediately, the man jumped to action. Kaito waited until the suspicious man was on the ground to leave his own hiding spot. It was time to play a game of cat and mouse. Kaito decided on taking the high ground to keep an eye on Tantei-kun as well as his pursuer. This meant some extra sneaking to ensure passers-by didn't catch sight of him, but that was no problem for him.

Tantei-kun happened to be in amazing luck, because it just so happened he'd swung by at exactly the right time. He wasn't going to let _anything_ happen to the little detective on his watch. Maybe Kogoro would learn to discourage the press from printing stories about Conan, too. Kaito was positive Tantei-kun didn't need any more attention drawn to him than he already got.

A few blocks away, the Shounen Tantei were heading into a bookstore. Shinichi lagged behind, standing before the entrance and letting his eyes sweep over his surroundings. A grin tugged at Kaito's lips. So he _had_ noticed. That was Tantei-kun for you.

"Oh no!" Shinichi said suddenly. "I forgot I have to pick something up for oji-san before I go home. We'll meet back here to walk home, okay?"

Ayumi's head popped out of the door while Genta and Mitsuhiko paused for a moment to agree. Haibara said she was going with him, not bothering to explain why. Since she hadn't shown any interest in the books, the Shounen Tantei weren't too suspicious, although Ayumi had a distinct air of jealousy.

Kaito had his eyes set on the guy in black, who was now situated in the alley a few buildings away from the bookstore. The moment that man made his move... Kaito watched with narrowed eyes as Shinichi and Haibara started walking. As the kids neared, Kaito climbed down silently, positioning himself to jump off of a windowsill to tackle the guy.

Shinichi froze when he heard a gun click to his right. He turned his head with wide eyes and stumbled back when a brown-haired girl fell on the man's back? Before Shinichi could try to help, the girl had managed to knock the man out and rope his wrists and ankles behind his back.

The girl seemed to just remember he was there. "Oh, boy! Are you OK?" she said in her accented English.

Shinichi, too, remembered his place. "That was scary! Thank you, nee-chan!" he responded in Japanese.

Kaito reminded himself to stay on guard around that kid. He jumped over to where the girl was - a normal person would dote on the girl more, right? "Hey there, cutie-pie!" he cooed in purposely horrible-sounding Japanese.

Haibara frowned dramatically, as though the shock of nearly being attacked had just hit her. "Th-thank you, nee-chan!" she said with a watery sounding voice.

After patting the girl's head, Kaito bent down to the girl's level, waving a finger in the girl's face with an apologetic, but firm expression. "You have to be more careful about places like this! Your precious little boyfriend can't always protect you." He failed to notice the frown deepen. "You're so cute and little and adorable and defenseless that bad men will want to eat you up! You have to call the police next time you notice someone suspi- ah." Kaito's face warped in horror when he realized that indeed, his own face was exposed.

Haibara twirled that particular piece of the disguise in her hand, an innocent smile coming to her face, with a mischievous smirk laying beneath it. "Eeeeeh? So this is what the Kaitou KID looks like?"


End file.
